The Dead Garden
by SecretSnow
Summary: A boy with eyes like sky and a once radient garden long since dead. The gods are dropping stars and the people watch the shadows for piercing eyes. Life won't grow in a world so desolate, but there is a word, a word that sparks and burns, "Perhaps..."


gar⋅den

 /ˈgɑrdn/ [gahr-dn]

1.a plot of ground, usually near a house, where flowers, shrubs, vegetables, fruits, or herbs are cultivated.

2.a piece of ground or other space, commonly with ornamental plants, trees, etc., used as a park or other public recreation area: a public garden.

3.a fertile and delightful spot or region.

* * *

The Dead Garden

* * *

Once upon a time there was a garden. It was a beautiful garden, full of life and color and peace. Within the garden there lived a group of people who loved and nurtured the garden that protected them. They fed from its fruit and admired the beauty it offered, in return the people took care of the garden, protecting it from destruction and tending to it its every whim.

Time passed as it always does and the people began to grow, both in awareness and in number. So instead of sleeping in the trees and among flowers, the people began to build homes. They cut down the trees crying (both the trees and the people, for even then they seemed to realize that things would never be the same), but the tears did not stop the people, for they were now aware of new things they hadn't before. People are amazingly strange things, for unlike any other creature or plant, people posses a certain curiosity, a need to know and to learn and to grow. So the people cut down their forests and hunted the animals they once slept among. Despite the changes, the people always took care of their radiant garden, so bright and full of life.

Then one day a man had a curiosity far deeper than any other. He was curious about the odd feeling he felt in his chest (his _heart_) and felt the need to explore this odd feeling. He took with him apprentices and they began to experiment with hearts. But the man made a mistake and was betrayed by his apprentice, and soon the darkness was unleashed upon the world. The darkness was quiet and sneaky but primal. It hid in the shadows and crept silently into the people's hearts, tainting them. The forest cried out to its children, tried to warn them of the danger, but the people had long since forgotten how to speak with the trees and the flowers, so they did not hear the warning (Except for a single little girl, who was so frightened by the voices that she did not speak of them to anyone).

The darkness held no shape, no definition for a long time. It corrupted the people, and soon wars broke out and destruction passed. Before too long the darkness in the hearts of the people was strong enough that it took shape. The shadows were brought to life and the people realized too late what had happened to their world. The darkness had dug too deeply and tainted the very heart of the world. The people were dying, the world was dying and destruction and fire and shadows spread across the land. The forest cried, for it could not save its children. The forest could not save everyone, but it could save a few. So on the day the world died, the forest used the last of its strength and sent some of its children to another world (_A lion, a ninja, a flower girl, a wisp of air, and a cigarette_).

The people died, the world died, and the forest died. The land was covered in living shadows and a cloaked woman laughed as she warped whatever was left to her image.

This is the end of the first garden.

But it is not The End.

* * *

Hallow Bastion (_It means **Sacred Stronghold**_) is returning to its formal glory. The buildings are rising from the rubble and the people are returning. Families weep as some are reunited, and families weep as some discover they shall never meet again. People are working hard, putting forth all their heart to rebuilding the city to what it once was.

The Restoration Committee in particular is very good about this. They are in charge of rebuilding the city. Everyday they lie out plans and direct the people to rebuilding homes and setting up security. Cid spends his days working on a large computer, setting up security systems. Aerith and Yuffie work with the people, setting them up in homes and reuniting families. Leon and Cloud fight against the heartless (living **shadows**), protecting the city the only way they know how.

There was a boy with blue eyes (like the _sea_, like the _sky_), and for a while The Restoration Committee forgot him, but not without a fight. They knew they had forgotten him even when they didn't know he was forgotten to begin with. The sense of _NotRight_, filled them at odd moments (the _sky_, the _sky_, the _sky_ is **blue**, just like _his_ eyes. Just like So-). For nearly a year they worked with the people, rebuilding what was lost. None of them ever spoke of the forgotten one (they each felt like they broke a _promise_, and no one wanted to _admit_ it). Until one day, the silence around the forgotten person was broken: by Aerith, of all people.

"I wonder if he would be proud of us?" Aerith had said one day out of the blue. They were all sitting in Merlin's house, planning out their next move, when she spoke.

They all gave her odd looks until Yuffie asked her, "Who are you talking about?" Even as she asked the question the same feeling of _NotRight_ filled her again and Yuffie knew she should know. A quick glance around and Yuffie saw the same stiffness in her companions, and she knew she was not alone in the feeling of _NotRight_.

Aerith shrugged, her own eyes strained at the heavy feeling, before replying, "I don't remember."

There is silence for a tense moment before Leon says, "It starts with an 'S'." He starts as his own words, surprised that he spoke them at all (words not quite his _own_ but feel completely _right_). The others stare at Leon, but no one disagrees with him because for once the feeling of _Right_ has filled them. They had all been feeling _NotRight_ for so long that they had grown used to the feeling, the sudden feeling of _Right_ was a noticeable difference.

The incident is never mentioned again. But then one day while looking at the sky a name and a face sudden flash into mind. The Committee cannot help their excitement, because now they remember; now they know. The feeling of _NotRight_ is gone and is replaced with the feeling of impatience. They are not disappointed as before too long a boy with too-blue eyes reappears and smiles warmly as if he's never left.

And where as things seemed to go slowly before, there is now a sudden buzz of excitement in the air. Sora is a wave of smiles and life. He is a protector in every sense, and something about him just calls to everyone he meets. They all care for him in their own way, and they each show it differently. Yuffie with pranks and laughs, Aerith with smiles and soft wisdom, Cid with sarcasm and hidden worry, Cloud with light eyes and strong presence, and Leon with his hidden smiles and protection.

Together the Committee helps Sora fight in Hallow Bastion. Protecting their Home the best they can.

Until one day, during a short break, Sora asks them, "Why does nothing grow here?"

And Sora is right: nothing grows in Hallow Bastion. The buildings, though beautiful, are gray and colorless, the people are tired and weary, and the only plants that can be found are ones the people brought with them from other worlds. Even those plants are beginning to gray though, as if the very life of them is being sucked away. The soil of Hallow Bastion is hard, gray, and cold (_like a **corpse**_), nothing planted ever grows. Even though the people have returned, the world is still dead. The soil is dead, the air is dead, the water is dead, even the people are dead; they just haven't stopped breathing yet.

This is still their home though, so they'll continue to rebuild what they destroyed, even if it's hopeless.

It is Merlin who answers Sora's inquiry, "The soil is highly unfertile; we seem to be having trouble getting anything to grow here."

Sora nods thoughtfully and the conversation is seemingly forgotten.

He cannot stay in one place forever, so Sora eventually leaves with a promise to return soon as an honorary member of The Restoration Committee. He goes off with a duck and a dog to travel the galaxy and unlock doors while saving worlds along the way.

The Restoration Committee continues as they have done, restoring their home to its former glory. Sora comes back several times, seemingly bringing a new disaster each time. It is one quiet night, when work is done for the night, that Sora shows The Restoration Committee his treasure.

Cid is at the computer and Merlin and Donald are talking about forms of magic. Yuffie is twirling a kunai around her finger absentmindedly while Aerith reads a book. Leon and Cloud both lean against opposite walls, lost in thought. Goofy stands next to Sora, a slightly puzzled look on his face, as he asks, "Gosh Sora, What have ya got there?"

The question catches the attention of everyone for a moment as Sora blushes and scratches the back of his head with one hand as the other gently cups something protectively, "It's a seed." He answers simply, avoiding looking into anyone's eye as he stares at the ceiling.

"What kind of seed?" Aerith asks, for she's always loved flowers.

"It's a seed from my island, a Papou seed," Sora replies, "I've had it with me since I first left, my mom had asked me to plant them but with everything that happened…" he trailed off, with the wicked storm, and heartless and the destruction of his world, planting a seed understandably slipped his mind.

"Papou?" Aerith asked, it was a strange name for a fruit. She places a marker in her book and set it down, walking over to Sora and the seed. She gazes down into his cupped palm and starts slightly, "It's shaped like a star!" she exclaimes. Indeed, the Papou fruit is shaped like a star, and so is its seed. The Papou seeds are slightly smaller than the nail of you pinky and are beach beige in color, the seeds are in the shape of a rounded star, with soft edges and corners. Unlike many seeds that are roughly textured and inlaid with grooves, the Papoe seed is perfectly smooth to the point where if Sora hadn't claimed it to be a seed, no one would ever have been able to tell it was one in the first place.

Curious by Aerith's exclamation the others pull themselves away from what they are doing and crowd around Sora, gently passing around the seed that somehow had escaped Sora's grasp.

Laughing Yuffie tossed the seed lightly into the air and said, "So what's a Pa-whatever anyway?"

Scowling, Sora snatched the seed mid-toss, "A Papou fruit, it's a yellow, star-shaped fruit. There's a whole bunch of legends surrounding it."

"Legends? What kinda' legends?" Goofy askes. The others looked at Sora, interested. All any of them really know about Sora's home was that it was an island, and that he has two really good friends that he grew up with.

Sora, seeing the other's growing interested, gestures for them to take a seat. After everyone was situated, either standing or sitting or just doing their own thing, Sora began, "The most well known legend is that of the fruit itself, It's said that if two people share a Papou fruit, their destinies become intertwined; they'll be part of each others lives, no matter what."

Immediately, anyone who wasn't interested before was staring at him wide eyed and awe struck. The idea of a bond that would surpass anything called to each of them, but then they remembered that Sora's island was somewhere far away and not even Sora knew what sort of state it was in anymore.

"What does that mean? Destiny?" Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, it was Cloud who said this from his position by the wall.

Sora shrugs, "It means exactly as it sounds. Papou are sometimes used in the more traditional weddings, but it was a dying practice with all the new-comers from the main lands flooding our island and the legends die out over time." No one failed to notice how he answered the question without really answering the question, but no one called him out on it.

"You said there were several legands?" Leon prompted.

Sora scratches his cheek absently, "Well, the second one is way less believable then the first…" he trailed off, but on seeing the attentive faces all focused on him, Sora sighed and continued,

"Papou are seen as the life plant. There's this really old legend that the gods dropped a star on the islands, and from that star a tree began to grow. After a thousand years the tree bore fruit and from that first bearing of fruit brought life to a lifeless sea. Another hundred years and a second bearing of fruit brought the trees to life and plants began to grow. Another one hundred years and the animals were born, both land and sky. Finally, after yet another one hundred years, humans began to grow from the branches of the giant tree, until one day they just fell to earth like all the other life brought to the islands. After the humans were brought into existence, the giant tree only bore fruit one more time, and that was to give birth to the Paopu trees. The Paopu trees can't bring new creature into existence, it was the light of the star that brought them. But The Paopu fruit is considered the bringer of destiny.

It's sacred in my world, they only grow on Destiny Islands and even the most moral less crook wouldn't dare harm a Paopu tree. They're sometimes called the Trees of Life or the Trees of Beginning, or even the Trees of Destiny. To cut down a Paopu tree is seen as murder, because Paopu and People came from the same Great Tree, they are seen as our siblings along with the animals and the plants. That Paopu is representative of the beginning of life for the islands. There are entire festivals devoted solely to the Paopu fruit."

"But what does that have to do with you carrying a seed around?" Donald interrupts.

Sora smiles before answering, "It's a tradition that once a child reaches thirteen they receive a Paopu seed from their parent. If the seed grows, it is looked upon with great luck, a new life almost. Unfortunately, the seeds never grow, there has never been a time where a seed has grown to a full grown Paopu tree, just getting one to sprout takes a lot of time and effort. It's seen as a lesson in life, creating and caring for life is never easy.

It's all I have left of my home."

As a whole, the group looks at Sora in a mixture of fascination, awe, sympathy, and curiosity. It was a fanciful tale, a star dropped by the gods brought life to a lifeless planet. A tree so old would need to be huge (There is a small island, where children{_of light_} play. There is a _tree_ so **large** that the nearly the entire island is covered by its {_protective_} branches. And if one finds the secret tunnel, they can enter the very _heart_ of the tree, a place brimming with ethereal _light_{like a **_star_**} in a place that should be **black** as night. There is a single wooden door without a knob or a keyhole that may lead to _nowhere _or _everywhere_ at the same time.)

For a moment there is silence that engulfs the room, each person lost in there own thoughts and memories. And than Sora's stomach growls which make Yuffie's growls which prompts a few laughs and Aerith clucking over the two as she begins to make lunch for everyone. The seed resides safely in one of Sora's many pockets (the one closest to his _heart_), and the committee laughs and eats and forgets for just a little while about the dead world outside and the living shadows.

Several months pass and things have once again fallen into routine of protecting and rebuilding and the occasional visit from Sora. The visits are always interesting, and no two are ever quite the same. Sometimes Sora shares stories of other worlds with Donald and Goofy, and sometimes the trio manages to get themselves into trouble (or cause it), sometimes the three go off and do their own thing, Donald to Merlin Goofy to Yuffie and Sora to Leon. Sometimes Sora enters a magic book where a bear with amnesia is beginning to remember.

One day, however, there is a slight change. Sora is quiet and thoughtful and still. This causes the people around him to worry (Because he's _always_ smiling and loud and moving, he needs to be if he ever wants to fill the silence, to fill the **darkness**, with _light_). He is like this for a few days, and just when everyone pretty much felt as if they were going to explode, Sora moves with a purpose to Aerith. Aerith, who is sitting on one of the many chairs reading a book, looks up to him in curiosity.

"I want to plant the Paopu seed"

Aerith looks at him in slight surprise, as do Donald, Goofy and Leon, the only other ones there at the time. Aerith holds Sora's serious gaze for a few moments before smiling softly and nodding in agreement. Aerith stands up, placing her book down, before heading into another room.

"Nothing grows in the soil here," Leon points out, "We've been trying for over a year, and nothing grows. You should find somewhere else to plant it, where it will grow."

Sora shakes his head in disagreement, "No," he says firmly, "It has to be here."

"You can plant it anywhere, why does it need to be here?" Leon asks, incredulity coating his voice.

"It just needs to be," Sora responds, it's not really an answer, the words confuse those around him and Leon finds himself angry without knowing why (he's setting himself up for disappointment, the fool)

"It's not going to grow," Leon stated, firmness and annoyance obvious in both tone of voice and body language.

"It will," Sora replies just and firmly and just as annoyed.

It is then that Aerith returns with a large clay pot deep burgundy in color. She hand the pot to Sora with a smile and a spade. Gratefully, Sora accepts the gift with his own smile. For a moment they only smile knowingly at each other before Sora turns around and walks out the door without another word. Goofy and Donald scramble to catch up to him. Annoyed, Leon lets out a quiet growl of sorts, "He's going to be disappointed," he's not sure why this bothers him, why he doesn't want to see the kid set himself up for a fall like that, but it does. The fact that he doesn't understand it only increases his annoyance.

"You should believe in him," Aerith says simply. There is silence for a few moments before Aerith says, "You can follow him you know, if you think it'll satisfy your curiosity."

Leon merely scowls before heading out the door of Merlin's house himself. Leaving a gently chuckling Aerith behind.

Sora is walking in a deserted plain of gray earth. The soil is hard, cold, gray and sickly looking. But he continues to walk in the field of nothingness (there used to be so much _life_ here; **_a sea of flowers_**). He walks as if he has a specific place he wants to be, but all around him is the same gray earth. Donald and Goofy follow behind him, sharing concerned and confused looks behind Sora's back. Up in the Bailey, Leon watches from the shadows, curiosity filling him as he watches the trio.

Suddenly Sora stops, "Here," he says firmly. He stands in what could almost be considered the center of the dead field; and equal distance from the dark castle, the Bailey, the town gates, and the mountains. He crouches down until he is kneeling in the dirt before he takes the spade and gently pushes it into the earth below. He moves the spade beneath the earth, loosening the soil, before lifting the dirt-filled spade and dumping it into the clay pot. He gently pushed the dirt around with his hands, removing any small stones and breaking apart dirt clump. When he feels satisfied with the job he digs his spade into the soil again and repeats the process until the clay pot in nearly filled, careful not to pack the earth to tightly or too loosely.

Satisfied with what he has, Sora digs into his pocket and pulls out the odd, star-shaped seed. He creates a hole with the spade with one hand and drops the seed in with another. With the seed in the hole, Sora dumps the dirt-filled spade back into its original position, lightly packing the earth. Smiling, Sora stands up, pot in hand, and promptly turns around towards the town gates before walking towards them with a slight skip in his step, Donald and Goofy following closely behind him.

Leon, from his spot in the Bailey, sees Sora heading towards the gates. Deciding that he learned nothing that didn't confuse him further, Leon begins the trek back towards Merlin's house, making it there before Sora.

When Sora steps into Merlin's house with smudges on his pants, a smile on his face, and a dirt filled pot he was obviously greeted with a few stares from Yuffi, Cid and Merlin who had returned. Sora shrugs them off, placing the pot gently on an unoccupied windowsill. Aerith appears with a single glass of slightly cloudy water. She walks over to Sora before handing it too him with a smile. Sora nods his own thanks before gently pouring half of the cup into the dead soil.

"Whatever ya got there aint gonna grow," Cid comments bluntly.

Sora gazes back with an unwavering determination, saying, "It will grow."

Cid shrugs his shoulders, "Whatever ya say, kid."

Leon stares at Sora, he is completely baffled; they had told him how the soil here is completely unfertile. Why is he setting himself up for a disappointment like that? Why plant the thing here, anyway, when Sora himself once said that no one had ever successfully grown the dam thing? But staring in to Sora's determined, stubborn, _sure_ eyes, Leon couldn't help the thought of '_perhaps_' that fills him, nor the small hope that ingraines itself within him.

After all, if anyone could coax life from barren soil, it would be Sora.

Everyday Sora standd by the windowsill, taking care of the pot of dirt; he waters it and nurtures it. Sometimes he spends hours just sitting next to the pot. After several days the Committee was worried, within a week they believed him insane, but it took two weeks for one of them to work up the nerve to ask him what in the hells he's doing.

Obviously, the job fell to either Donald or Yuffi, both of which played a quick game of rock paper scissors to find out who would be the one to ask. Donald lost, so by the time two weeks had past, Donald walked up to Sora, who was singing softly to a pot of dirt, and asked, "What in the world are you doing, Sora?"

Sora blinked, replying, "I'm growing a Paopu tree," his tone suggesting that it was something that should be obvious.

"But Sora," Goofy interrupts Donald, who looked as if he were going to blow a gasket, "Didn't ya grow up onna island?"

"Yeah…" Sora says, long and drawn out, his tone asking why Goofy was asking a question he knew the answer too.

"An island fruit wouldn't grow here, the climate and soil are wrong, if you take out the factor that the soil is unfertile to begin with. Not to mention the acidity of the soil is extremely different from that of an island along with the minerals that the plant would need to survive," Merlin cut in, trying to explain scientifically why it wouldn't work. An irony in itself as Merlin is a man of the magics.

"It will grow," Sora stated firmly, just as he had with Cid and Leon all the days ago.

"Than why not find a different planet to plant it on? Surly that will yield better results?" Merlin pushes.

Even before Merlin finished speaking, Sora is shaking his head, "No, it has to be here."

Aerith walks over to Sora and places a hand on his shoulder; she turns to face the group as a whole, "Believe in him."

No one takes her too seriously though. They laugh it off and went back to what they were doing, none of them felt that anything would become of the pot of dirt. Sora looks at Aertih with a smile, their eyes level, saying, "Thanks Aerith." Aerith smiled and shook her head wordlessly. Glancing over to Leon, he caught the older man's gaze. The two stared at each other for a long moment before Leon noda firmly. Whatever Sora took from this he seems to like because he smiles widely.

He turns around and walks back to his pot, singing a gentle tune about the sea and the swaying branches and destiny.

Days turn to weeks and nothing has sprouted from the pot. Everyday someone tells him to give it up, the soil is just too infertile to grow anything. It won't grow. Donald and Goofy both try to convince Sora that they need to leave anyway, that other worlds are calling. Sora merely smiles and shakes his head, "It will grow. It will grow and when it does we can go on, but until then we need to be here."

* * *

Everyday, someone throws him some piteous glance. He's putting so much hope into that one seed, they whisper to each other, so much hope; it's only going to fail (**_shadows_** of doubt **lie** in their hearts). If Sora hears (which he does) he ignores it.

Yuffie is the one most angered by his persistence. She is normally so happy and cheerful, but in the face of something so hopeless she can do nothing but scowl and scold. She watches him care for the pot of dirt as if it's his child. She scowls (it hurts her face to hold it for too long) when she watches him coo at it like a child. She ignores his little songs and quiet persistence.

A long time ago, Yuffie was broken. When the world died Yuffie lost so much. She is the youngest of the misfit band of survivors and the others all think that she doesn't remember the _screamingrunningcryingdying_ of the people. They all assume she's forgotten what it was like, watching parents and friends and family have their hearts ripped out as they dissolved around you. They all assume that she can't remember her father's _warmtightprotective_ embrace as his arms dissolved around her, his heart taking the place of what should have been hers. They assume she can't remember, but she does, she never forgot.

It's easier to pretend though, so she let's them think that.

"Sora," Yuffie says exasperatingly, "Why is this so important to you? Why are you trying so hard?" she need to know, because some part of her broke a long time ago. It was broken and it was never fixed and now she sees this kid, not much younger than herself, trying so hard. She needs to understand, because he should be broken. He should be broken just as much, if not more so than her (she can still hear them **scream**, in her sleep), after every thing he's been through. But he's not broken, he's whole(and a part of her burns with _hateloungingenvy _because of it). He smiles and hopes and wishes on stars (that is, of course, unless they fall; because that means that there's just more people _screamingrunnigcryingdying_). She needs to understand why he's not broken, why he's still hoping against all hope.

Sora smiles, his eyes going distant and a light blush dusting his tan cheeks, "Because it's home."

Yuffie starts, completely caught off guard by his answer: what did he mean by that? Did he mean that the seed was home, or that…?

"It will grow," Sora says, a sort of desperate tinge to his voice, "because it just _has_ too."

Yuffie realizes than that perhaps Sora is more broken than she realizes_ (cracksnapshatter)_. It's then that she begins to hope, that she begins to believe. Not because she believes the thing will grow (she's too broken for that) but because Sora needs her to believe, because Sora needs the seed to grow.

So she'll believe, but only because he needs her too.

* * *

Merlin is a man of the magics. He can create things from nothing and cast spells of such ferocity that no common heartless truly stands a chance. He has seen things and done things that are so out of the realm of believability that he hardly dares to mention them simply for not wishing to deal with disbelieving fools. He has studied magics for centuries; he has seen the future and the past with perfect clarity. He knows when something is to happen and where.

But he does not believe that Sora's seed will grow.

He does not know it will not grow, he just doesn't believe. Whenever he tries to use his foresight to see the outcome it is always very blurry. He cannot tell if the seed grows or if it dies. He cannot tell how long it will take to find out. This worries Merlin, for not only can he not see the out come of the seed, but also he cannot see the out come of Hallow Bastion.

Ever since arriving on this world, his foresight, which once seemed to stretch for figurative miles, was reduced to a few pitiful feet. Granted, those few feet are more than could be said for most folks, but for a man used to the miles, a few feet is disconcerting.

He cannot see the fate of Hallow Bastion. He does not know if Hallow Bastion will survive for another day, he does not know if anything will ever grow in the forsaken soil, he does not know anymore than Leon or any of the others of the committee knows.

This bothers Merlin, and not just a little bit.

He does not believe in Sora, how can he when is foresight does not work (because seeing is believing, isn't it?)? Perhaps it is simply an old man's cynicism, without his own brand of proof, his own clairvoyance, Merlin cannot believe in much of anything. He watches Sora flail about his pot of dirt. Nurturing the pot like his sweet Wart once nurtured Camelot. He treated the pot as if the very future depended on its survival.

After the one day of speaking to Sora about the soil, Merlin doesn't speak to Sora about the pot again. He mostly stays away from the one windowsill all together; preferring to believe it doesn't even exists. Just being around the pot makes his foresight go haywire and it give Merlin nothing but headaches and blurs of images that are constantly contradicting.

It is on a day while Sora and the others are out, that Merlin finally acts. He walks toward the pot with a purpose; he's not quite sure what it is yet, but he's had the feeling for days that just touching the pot will show him what he needs to know, coming in direct contact with something always makes the visions just a bit more clear.

He reaches the pot of dirt, and hesitantly he places a single hand atop the soil and freezes.

-colorcolor**_life_**smilebloomcolor**_life_****_life_**color**_life_**smile-

The mere weight of the vision nearly brings Merlin to his knees. He gasps and wheezes and removes his hand from the soil as so as the vision comes. He can't catch his breath but it's not because he is so overcome.

He is laughing.

He is laughing with so much joy and happiness. The vision was not clear, they hardly ever are anymore, but it was enough. He doesn't know when or how or why but he believes now.

He believes because he saw, even if it was just for a moment, before returning to his blindness.

* * *

Cloud believes in Sora. He believes that Sora will make the Paopu grow. He watches and observes the others interact. He's always watching, but he never participates. Sometimes, he feels like he isn't even there at all (and sometimes, he really _isn't_), yet he continues to watch, as they doubt Sora.

A long time ago he lost his light. He fought for the very god of the underworld just to find a way to get it back. But then he met this kid, this kid who without even trying brought a sort of glow into anyone's world.

Cloud has been fighting for years, and he's scarcely ever lost, but to nearly lose to a kid…

Well that's not something his pride likes to admit too, ever. In fact, as far as Cloud's pride is concerned, that never happened. He was unconscious half the time, plausible deniability and all that (the fact that Sora was the one who made him that way is pointedly ignored)

If there's one thing that Cloud has learned though, it's that Sora is a light. He is a light that is so bright as too shine through even the thickest of shadows. Cloud would know, he was trapped in the darkness, unable to find his way out. He made a deal that he would never have made otherwise because of it. But somehow, even in the midst of the pit of darkness he was in, Sora's glow managed to shine through. It reminds him of who he was, and why he was fighting in the first place.

"Don't lose sight of it"

That's what he told Sora. He told Sora not to lose his light, not only so that he would be safe from the darkness, but also so that he could support others trying to fight their way out as well. Sora doesn't even realize how many people he saves just by smiling, just by being himself.

But Sora isn't just light, he's water as well. He nurtures and cares and gives others the strength to grow. He showers everyone he cares for with love and protection. He gives the man dying of thirst a glass of water, he gives them strength to stand on their own and move forward.

Sora is light and Sora is water, but Sora is also earth. He is stability and stronghold. He is someone that can always be depended on. Sora is a person who will let you take whatever you need from him so that you can grow into something better, someone stronger.

In a way, Sora has become Cloud's light. Not in a romantic sense, Cloud just sees Sora as something to hold onto, something to keep him grounded, to keep him from getting so close to the sky that he forgets what he has on earth. Cloud is willing to admit, in his own mind at least, that he needs something to protect in order to fight at his best. And Sora is as good a reason as any. He is innocent in many ways of the world and in others he understands far more than anyone his age should have. Sora gives him something to 'hold onto' in a sense, he gives Cloud a reason to keep going, and all the while he heals Cloud with nurturing water and light smiles.

Sora is like Light and Water and Earth, it does not escape Cloud's notice that these are also the things that Life needs to grow.

* * *

Cid is a Cigarette. There is no denying this fact. He is a man who depends on his cigs to get him by (they're a _crutch_, because _reality_ is so _heavy_).

A long time ago, Hallow Bastion was filled with _runningscreamingcryingdying_ people. Shadows moved and pooled across the ground like liquid. Warm, bubbling blood coated the walls and streets as people went mad with fear. People weren't just fighting the heartless though, they were fighting each other as well. Everyone found blame in Everyone Else. Friends and Neighbors turned their backs and slaughtered one another as shadows closed in, stalking their prey. A once prosperous, intelligent people were reduced to a dog-eats-dog life style.

Cid wishes he could say that he was above that, that he was smarter than the rest, braver, but he can't. People don't seem to understand what it was like, no one knew where the shadows came from, and no one knew why they were there. No one knew what made a heartless. All anyone knew was that these things came out of the shadows and killed people. They didn't even realize that they were stealing hearts. He was just as bad as everyone else out there. He did what he needed to survive. In fact the only thing he can say for himself is that he never _out right_ killed anyone.

The poor blamed the rich, the rich blamed the royals, the royals blamed the scientists, and the scientists blamed the rebels who in turn blamed the government who blamed the poor. In fact, the only person who didn't have blame laid down at his feet was Ansem, the complete irony of the fact makes Cid want to laugh (_makes him want to **cry**_).

When the world died it wasn't a moonless night with darkness and screaming and confusion. The end of the world happened in the middle of the day; when everyone was out and buying and talking (no one went out at night by that point). Cid once heard that the world would either go out with a bang, or with a whimper, they were both wrong. The world went out with the dull _thud_ of a body hitting the floor, the not-quite _scritchscratch_ of shadow claws against stone, and the loud, shrill _scream_ of the people as they saw for the first time the Heartless true form (black, inky bodies, darker than any night, that _aren't quite real_ but are _real enough_ to _kill_. Yellow eyes so bright they _pierce, _they see you're very _soul, _your very _heart_).

Cid doesn't know why he survived. Why out of all the others in their world: the smarter, the faster, the stronger, the wiser, the kinder, the younger (dear _god_ the _younger_) he survived. He doesn't remember much after the screaming started, only that he felt like he was swimming through black velvet of the darkest sort. It was disturbing, how comfortable and _safe_ he felt in the darkness, as if apart of him had been missing and he'd just found it again. When he woke up again, though, all he felt was nausea and the sick sort of certainty you get when you know the people you love are dead without ever being told.

After the fall of Hallow Bastion, Cid fell into a sort if depression that lasted about a week. It probably would have lasted longer had he not come across a reason to keep going in the form of a bundle of brats. They were from his world; they were there when the world went to hell. They weren't his friends; he didn't know any of them. But they were the connection he needed to his old world, to know that yeah, his planet really _was_ just eaten by a bunch of creepy shadow creatures and yeah, everyone he'd ever known is dead or worse then that, but they existed, everything that happened really did happen and he's not crazy god dam it. It wasn't all part of some dream.

They were just kids than, those brats. He took care of them best he could, fed them, clothed them and the such. It wasn't easy, god knows it wasn't easy. But it was exactly what he needed, something to keep his mind busy while his heart healed. Soon he began to care for the brats like they were his own brats. They began to function like their own dysfunctional family. Sure Yuffie would have random moments of showing of her 'ninja prowess' (see: throwing knives at Cloud or Leon because they pissed her off), sure Leon would try to protect everyone and Cloud would take the blame for everything and Aerith would go days without talking to anyone but they all healed and supported one another.

Perhaps, that's why Cid was one of the few who survived. Not to do anything great himself, not really anyway, but to help make sure that those brats who _would_ do great things had someone there for them when needed most, to raise them through the rest of whatever childhood they had left.

When Cid looks at Sora, he sees his own brats staring up at him sometimes. When he's angry or hyper he's a minni Yuffie, when he's protective and thoughtful he's a minnie Leon, when he's moody or silent he's a minnie Cloud, and when he kind and sincere he's a Minnie Aerith. Which is why he tries to protect the kid where he can, in his own Cid Brand of Gruffness, of course.

"It ain't gonna grow, kid," Cid says, yet again. He's been saying it nearly everyday now since Sora decided to try. But each time Sora would respond with a smile and a shake of his head. With Sora's normally explosive temper, he was surprised Sora hadn't tried to maul him yet.

He pauses, thinking of something, "Why do you ya want to grow it _here_ anyway?"

Sora also pauses, seemingly surprised by the answer. For a few moments he is silent _(A mini Leon, _Cid thinks_, always careful about his answers when it matters)_ then he answered, "Because this place is important to me." _(Mini Cloud, answerin' the question without answerin' at all)_

"How is it important to ya?" Cid insists.

Another pause, "This is where everything ended, it's also where it all began." He finished with a wide smile as if what he just said made perfect sense _(Riddles! Bahh! That's Yuffie, or at least that smile is)_

Cid didn't say anything, just gave Sora a _look _(The same look all parents give their children, the same look Cid was giving the brats by the time they had lived together for year) that quickly prompted him to explain.

"This is where the Heartless began, this is where I met Kairi again, it's the first place I found after I woke up, it's the place where everything came full circle. The Beginning and The End." _(Aerith sentimentality right there)_

"I get all that," Cid drawls, "But _why_ are you planting it _here_?"

Sora blushed, seemingly embarrassed at being caught in his half-truth. He kicks the ground a little, embarrassed by whatever he was going to say. Suddenly Sora looked like all of the brats and none of them at the same time. He looked like Yuffie when she was caught polishing a ninja star twice her size _( "But I want to grow up to be a ninja!" but she's so young yet, so small and-)_, he looked like Leon when he was told to stay inside _("But I can fight! I'm old enough and I'm strong enough now to protect everyone!" –he's not nearly as ready as he thinks but-)_ he looked like Cloud right before he left the first time _("I have to find her, I have to find my light"-he knows that someday that he'll have to let go and that-)_ he looked like Aerith as she worried for everyone _(a soft sigh and soft eyes, "Thank you, for not letting them go to battle."-he won't be able to protect them)_. At the same time he looked like his own person, amongst the layers and layers he saw of the others, he saw Sora, a kid who hasn't seen his mother, his islands, his home in years. And he knows what Sora is going to say even before he says it.

"It reminds me of home, this place."

Cid knows it's not literal. In fact, Hallow Bastion is just as opposite you can get from a tropical island bursting with life. But Cid knows that Sora's just another dysfunctional kid who just happened to come across a dysfunctional family, It wouldn't have happened at any other time, or if they were any other group of people (people less damaged, less broken then all of them). But at some point Sora found his own dysfunctional family, right here in Hallow Bastion.

Cid says nothing; he just walks up to Sora (he's still so _small_) and stares for a few moments. He lifts his hand slowly and gently and gruffly and pats (_YuffiLeonCloudAerith)_Sora's head.

A gruff awkward sort of smile stretches across his face, exposing slightly yellowed teeth as he whispers words spoken from times long past to children now grown, _"I know."_

The hardest thing for any parent to do is to let go and watch their children grow up. Once you get past that part, believing in them comes as naturally as (_flick, light, smoke, sigh, a crutch just sturdy enough to support all the extra weight he's carrying on his shoulders. The same weight all parents carry, the weight of-)_ breathing.

* * *

Donald and Goofy are friends of Sora. They've traveled from world to world. They've fought together (and each other) they cried together, they've laughed together. It's the type of closeness you can only get by saving the galaxy together, and it binds them tight.

It's times like this though, that Donald is truly annoyed by Sora's naivety.

Goofy has tried to placate him, tried to tell Donald that they should just believe in Sora. Donald's never been good in trusting blindly (he has his own share of scars, and he knows well enough that trusting blindly is what got them in the first place), it took years for him to gain the trust he has in the King, it took twice as long to trust Goofy the same way and it took Daisy twice as long as Goofy to gain that trust (because the _heart_ is so _delicate_ and is _broken_ so easily and Donald just didn't know if he could _handle_ a heartbreak like that). Sora, though he is the Keyblade master, is still just a kid. And while Donald may trust Sora with his life, Donald still doesn't trust him with his heart.

Goofy on the other hand, probably trusts too easily. It's gotten him hurt, and it's gotten him in trouble, but he can never regret trusting others. Because his mother always told him that the day he stopped trusting was the day he died (in the _heart_), and Goofy loves his mother, though she's long since past. He trusts her words and continues to trust. He trusted King Mickey when he first offered his hand (he's never regretted it since) he trusted Donald the moment he saw him (because who couldn't trust such a swell guy?) and he trusted Penny (Glory-Bee, Glory-Bee beautiful, beautiful Bee) and he never regretted that either, how could he when he now has Max (she's gone, gone, gone and buried, but she's still his beautiful Bee) his son, his wonderful son. He's always believed in Sora. Sora just made you want to trust him. And Sora has never let Goofy down before, so why should Goofy believe he'd start now?

Donald has been hurt, Goofy has been hurt, but they handle the same hurt completely differently. Where as Goofy is seen as naïve for his trust (he's not, he knows there's bad things out there, he just figures that there's enough bad so he should just make his own good, even if it means getting hurt) Donald is seen as mean and angry (he's not, he just wants to protect everyone, and if getting angry and mean keeps them from getting killed than that's what he'll do).

"Donald," Goofy begins one day, "Why dontchya' just trust Sora?"

"I do!" Donald snaps back, "I trust him to follow his heart, I just don't trust him to follow his head!"

"But Donald," Goofy continues slowly, "If ya don't trust one, how can ya trust the other?"

"Aww! What do you know!" Donald snaps again, because though he hates to admit it, he knows Goofy's right. He usually is when it comes to the heart.

As Sora continues to try and grow his seed, Donald only gets more and more aggravated. He snaps on the smallest of things and his temper is always simmering just a point from boiling over. It doesn't take too long until he snaps at Sora himself.

"Sora!" Donald yells, "Why are you still trying to grow that thing!? It's not going to work!" He stomps over to the windowsill where both Sora and the pot reside. His face is red and you can almost see the steam coming out of his ears in puffs.

"How do you know?" Sora shoots back, his own temper making an appearance.

"It's been three weeks! It shoulda at least sprouted by now!" Donald exclaims, gesturing wildly to the pot.

"It's going to grow!" Sora yells, upset that Donald, one of his closest friends, was acting this way.

"No it's not! Face it Sora, that seed's a dud! It's never gonna grow!"

Donald snatches the pot from Sora's hands, who follows after him angrily. Before to long the others have gathered and are trying to placate the two screaming friends.

"Sora! Donald! Cut it out!" Leon yells as their anger begins to get out of control.

"I should just smash this pot!" Donald yells, red in the face and panting angrily.

Sora's anger seems to fade away to shock and panic. His red face pales and he shakes his head rapidly. "Donald don't…!" he trails off, not sure where to go.

"Sora, you're wasting in front of this thing!" Donald huffs out, "you're putting so much hope into this thing, but it's not going to work!"

Sora's eyes flash with a sudden understanding before stating slowly, "I'm going to be okay Donald."

"No! you're not! Not if this doesn't work!" Donald yells, getting worked back up again, "We've all seen it, how you've been acting! Ever since you've planted this thing you've been acting like nothing could ever go wrong! You've been so…so…happy! What happens…! What happens when it doesn't work…!?"

Sora was already shaking his head before Donald finished speaking, "Donald," he said quietly, "Please Donald…I just need you to trust me."

Donald stared into Sora's eyes, he was just so dam hopeful. So dam sure that this thing is going to grow. There's no reason for it to grow, all the odds are against it. They've all told him again and again why it won't work, why the plant would be better off situated somewhere else. But Sora is nothing if not stubborn.

"I do trust you Sora," Donald begins, "I trust to do what's right, and I trust you to do what you need to, I trust you're heart Sora. But…I don't trust you not to do something that's only going to get you hurt in the end."

And that's what this is all about isn't it? It's what everyone is worried about, what everyone doubts. They don't doubt Sora, or the plant or that it would grow, though part of them did just that. Most of the doubts came from what would happen to Sora if it didn't work. How would he handle it? Would he be the same? Could he handle a disappointment like that?

"Donald…I know I don't always make the best choice but please…trust me on this. Everything will be alright."

Donald sighs and stares at the pot of dirt in his hands. The dirt within was no less gray and lifeless than the day they first scooped it but, if nothing else, it is warmer; warmer with Sora's determination and love that is.

He hands the pot to Sora. And though he doesn't say anything, Sora seems to understand.

_Sora's _heart_ warmed that plant, and I trust Sora's heart._

* * *

_Yes, I am a horrible person, I know, for starting yet another story when I should be finishing up the ones I do have up already. Really, I am a truly horrible person. There will be a second part up to this soon, and I actually MEAN soon this time too. I am also working on the next part to Scars so that sould ACTUALLY be up soon as well too, and I MEAN it this time! I swear I do! If you see any mistake just tell me and I'll fix them. ANy reviews at all would be nice, actually._


End file.
